Pseudogygites Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Happy March break TTF! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday! I have just gotten back from a fantastic trip to Florida. Thanks to TTF, I was lucky to discover the peace river. This discovery caused an entire re-write of my family's vacation plans. My father, who was also looking forward to walking through a swamp, agreed to join me on an expedition there. This was my first fossil hunting trip in Florida. I would also like to give my thanks and free advertising to Fossil Funatics, the tour operator who organized the hunt and provided the resources for us. We had a very successful two days. The guy is truly helpful, knowledgable, and fun to be around. He kindly gave all of his Dugong ribs and some of his shark teeth to me. We actually went to a stream which feeds into the actual peace river. As soon as we arrived there, I found myself overtaken by a sudden obsession with Dugong bones, earning my the titular nickname given to me by my dad. Since I have literally hundreds fossils from the river, this post will be dedicated to the Dugong bones. More posts on this are to follow! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudogygites Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudogygites Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam28 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Cool finds, goes to show one man's junk is another's treasure. Those things can pile up quick if you're not careful lol, really only keep them anymore if they catch my eye or are exceptionally large/ intact (my longest one, 5 1/4" with a slight curve I found this year). Also want to look for growth rings on the cross section (which show up sometimes, no idea why) & possible predation marks P.s. btw those swiss cheese looking holes came from boring clams eating the bone before it fossilized Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudogygites Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 5 minutes ago, Cam28 said: Cool finds, goes to show one man's junk is another's treasure. Those things can pile up quick if you're not careful lol, really only keep them anymore if they catch my eye or are exceptionally large/ intact (my longest one, 5 1/4" with a slight curve I found this year). Also want to look for growth rings on the cross section (which show up sometimes, no idea why) & possible predation marks P.s. btw those swiss cheese looking holes came from boring clams eating the bone before it fossilized Great! More for me! I don't know why I love these so much! Maybe because of those cool boring clam markings or the growth rings (mine have some). Also, what should I look for when searching for predation marks? Some of them have light scratches on them but that could just be erosion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam28 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 2 hours ago, Pseudogygites said: Great! More for me! I don't know why I love these so much! Maybe because of those cool boring clam markings or the growth rings (mine have some). Also, what should I look for when searching for predation marks? Some of them have light scratches on them but that could just be erosion. See this image (pretty sure I got it from this site). So far I only have one fragmentary dugong rib frag with some predation marks, and I'm guessing it's pretty difficult to tell if they're from when they were alive or scavenged on (guessing more puncture marks & more violent looking gashes could mean eaten alive, apparently sharks take turns when scavenging (because why waste energy fighting other sharks when you don't need to), according to one book I've read) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Nice lot of bones! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 For fun, you might cut into one and polish the cross section showing the dense bone texture and eccentric growth lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Yup, you got to watch out for em...i got a pile....they are crazy very dense and oh so heavy too....they'll throw you over the airline luggage weight restrictions in a hurry! Continued hunting success. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LONGOF Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Congrats for these great findings. Can anyone tell if these are Duggong pieces too ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Longof, I'm not so sure this is even bone. Too long and straight to be a rib. Not seeing any bone texture. Maybe burrow infills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Probably best to start a new ID topic so as not to take away from discussing the OP's fabulous trip. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Glad you chanced to discover that Florida is a great place to hunt fossils. I've heard good things about Fossil Funatics (and the other river guides who offer these trips) so I'm not surprised that you had a great time. Hope you were flying Southwest or had extra weight available in your luggage allowance. One of my last collecting trips resulted in my flying back with nearly 250 pounds (> 100 kg) of booty (though zero dugong bones). If you are truly enamored of dugong bones, let me know next time you are down in South Florida and I'll take you someplace where I can cure you of that obsession. I could easily fill a pair of 50-pound suitcases with enough dugong bones to make your plane fly funny. Glad you had a good time down here in Florida. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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